DesertFox
08-25-2007, 03:10 PM
Hundreds of Big Dig leaks have festered for years because of infighting and red tape, leading state officials to acknowledge flaws are worse than imagined and could permanently damage project tunnels, the Herald has learned.
“I feel we have inherited a project that is riddled with flaws, and it has become a major preoccupation,” state Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen said yesterday in his first extensive public comments about massive tunnel leaks plaguing the $14.8 billion project.
“What I’m worried about is the threat to the long-term condition of the tunnel,” Cohen added.
Some 500 leaks at the roof-wall joints in the Tip O’Neill Tunnel have never been sealed by contractors despite widespread knowledge of the problem as far back as 2001, state officials said. Money disputes and infighting among contractors essentially caused work on those fissures to come to a halt more than a year ago. The work was further delayed by the fatal Interstate 90 Seaport connector ceiling collapse.
More (http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=1019030)
“I feel we have inherited a project that is riddled with flaws, and it has become a major preoccupation,” state Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen said yesterday in his first extensive public comments about massive tunnel leaks plaguing the $14.8 billion project.
“What I’m worried about is the threat to the long-term condition of the tunnel,” Cohen added.
Some 500 leaks at the roof-wall joints in the Tip O’Neill Tunnel have never been sealed by contractors despite widespread knowledge of the problem as far back as 2001, state officials said. Money disputes and infighting among contractors essentially caused work on those fissures to come to a halt more than a year ago. The work was further delayed by the fatal Interstate 90 Seaport connector ceiling collapse.
More (http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=1019030)